Ford v. Page
| Decision Date | 01 November 2022 |
| Docket Number | 2:20-cv-00076 |
| Parties | JOHN FORD, Plaintiff, v. STEVE PAGE, et al., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee |
John Ford has filed a Complaint against White County, Tennessee Sheriff Steve Page, Major Richard Lynch, and White County Tennessee, for retaliatory discharge in violation of the First Amendment under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Tennessee Public Protection Act (“TPPA”), Tenn. Code Ann § 50-1-304. (Doc. No. 1). This case arises from Ford's termination from the White County Sheriff's Department after he reported to outside law enforcement authorities a violent incident involving a deputy sheriff in the scope of his duties. Id. Pending before the Court is Defendants' fully briefed Motion for Summary Judgment. (Doc. Nos. 30-32, 36-39, 40-41). For the following reasons, the motion will be denied.
In resolving a motion for summary judgment, the Court must undertake “the threshold inquiry of determining whether there is the need for a trial-whether, in other words, there are any genuine factual issues that properly can be resolved only by a finder of fact because they may reasonably be resolved in favor of either party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 250 (1986). The Court must grant summary judgment if the moving party “shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A fact is material if it “might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law[,]” and a dispute about a material fact is genuine “if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248.
As sheriff, Page is the chief law enforcement officer of White County, Tennessee and has final decision-making authority for the White County Sheriff's Department (“WCSD”). (Doc. No. 40 ¶¶ 35-37). He requires WCSD employees to comply with WCSD's policies and procedures. (Id. ¶¶ 40, 44).
When Page was elected, he promoted John Ford to the position of captain in charge of investigators. (Id. ¶ 45). He also promoted Richard Lynch to major in charge of professional standards. (Id. ¶ 42; Doc. No. 37 at ¶ 47). Lynch became openly dissatisfied with Ford, which was reflected in a yearlong series of verbal and written criticisms concerning Ford's alleged insubordination in an attempt to get Page to fire Ford. (Doc. No. 37 ¶¶ 47-55, 72). On September 29, 2019, Lynch submitted a letter to Page alleging deficiencies in Ford's job performance and recommending that Ford be suspended without pay for three days.[2] (Doc. Nos. 30-2 at 44-45; 37 at ¶ 54). Page declined to suspend Ford but counseled him on the importance of following the chain of command. (Id. ¶¶ 54-57). On December 30, Page wrote a “Verbal Counseling” that memorialized instructions to Ford about the chain of command and improving communications with Lynch. (Doc. No. 30-2 at 49). He continued his criticism of Ford in a January 2, 2020, email, and three unsigned letters (dated January 21, February 5, and February 12) concerning alleged “insubordination” regarding office matters. (Doc. Nos. 37 ¶¶ 58-59, 61-64; 30-2 at 50-53). Page believed that Lynch placed the unsigned letters into Ford's file because he wanted Ford terminated. (Doc. No. 40 ¶ 54).
On February 25, 2020, Page instituted a new policy that required written authorization before any investigative materials were released to another agency. (Doc. No. 37 ¶ 65-66). On April 3, WCSD Deputy Brandon Young repeatedly deployed his K-9 dog on Tonya Qualls during service of a felony warrant. (Doc. No. 37 ¶¶ 1-2). Page hired Young because he was “proactive” and presented a lot of drug cases for prosecution, so Page did not want Young to get in trouble. (Id. ¶ 6; Doc. No. 40 ¶ 57, 58). Nevertheless, Page directed Ford to perform an internal investigation into Young's conduct. (Doc. No. 37 ¶¶ 4, 6). After hearing a description of the Qualls incident, Ford believed that the investigation should be handled by the District Attorney's Office. (Id. ¶ 5.) Captain of patrol John Meadows, however, instructed Ford that Page would not agree and directed Ford to continue the investigation. (Id. ¶ 6). The investigation was an important matter of public concern because it concerned potential police misconduct. (Doc. No. 40 ¶ 16).
Ford led the investigation with the assistance of Detective Muncy. (Id. ¶ 3; Doc. Nos. 37 ¶ 7). After gathering a video of the incident and other evidence, Ford told Muncy that they needed to talk to the District Attorney. (Doc. No. 37 ¶¶ 8-9). Ford believed that Young may have committed a criminal offense and the investigation should be turned over to the District Attorney's Office. He voiced his opinion to Muncy, Chief Deputy Dobson, Meadows, and Chris Isom of the District Attorney's Office. (Doc. No. 40 ¶¶ 18-19). He did not seek authorization before communicating with Isom. (Id. ¶ 67).
On April 8, 2020-five days after the Qualls incident-Ford and Muncy met with Page, Lynch, and Chief Deputy Dobson. (Id. ¶ 19). Prior to the meeting, Lynch believed that Young should be terminated based solely on the video evidence. (Id. ¶ 8). During the meeting, Ford repeated that the matter should be turned over to the District Attorney. (Doc. No. 37 ¶¶ 25-26). Page, however, appeared to be mad. (Id. ¶ 20). He had consulted a retired K-9 dog handler who suggested that the Qualls incident was merely a mistake. (Id. ¶¶ 14-18). Without reviewing the investigative report, Page informed the group that “the dog malfunctioned;” ordered Ford to end the investigation; stated that Young would receive an administrative punishment; and concluded there was no need to talk to the district attorney other than perhaps a “courtesy call.” (Id. ¶¶ 2224, 26; Doc. No. 40 ¶¶ 9-10, 13, 51). Lynch concurred with Page's assessment. (Doc. No. 40 ¶ 14). Ford instructed Muncy to document the meeting. (Doc. No. 37 ¶ 28).
Later that afternoon, Page instructed Muncy to bring him the entire incident file. (Id. ¶ 29). Muncy met Page in a parking lot and handed over the file. (Id. ¶ 31). According to Muncy, Page said: “I don't want this”; “this is not to go any further”; and (Id. ¶ 32; Doc. No. 40 ¶¶ 4-5). The next day, Page memorialized his conclusions in a letter to Young. (Doc. No. 40 ¶ 17). Soon after, Qualls's counsel filed a motion to withdraw her guilty plea to the charge of resisting arrest. (Doc. No. 36-3 at 19-20). Page directed Lynch to personally ask the trial judge to “reconsider dismissing or withdrawing the charges” against Qualls. (Id.; Doc. No. 40 ¶¶ 33-34).
At Page's direction, Ford ceased his official work on the Young investigation. (Doc. No. 40 ¶ 57). However, he still believed that Page was trying to cover-up Young's conduct. (Id. ¶ 21). As a private citizen and on his private time, Ford decided to contact Isom of the District Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) about the Qualls incident and the internal investigation into Young. (Id. ¶¶ 21-23, 57). Ford had no job-related obligation or duty to report the investigation to the District Attorney's Office or FBI, and did not have Page's permission to do so. (Id. ¶ 15). Isom confirmed that Ford told him about the internal investigation, asserted that Young violated Qualls's civil rights, and that Page was trying to cover it up. (Id. ¶ 24). Ford also informed Isom that Muncy had a video of the incident. (Id. ¶ 25; Doc. No. 37 ¶ 35). Isom made a phone call, asked for a copy of the video, and left in a hurry. (Doc. No. 37 ¶ 36). Soon after, District Attorney Bryant Dunaway called Muncy, directed him to, “bring me everything you have[,] I need to talk with you now.” (Id. ¶ 38; Doc. No. 40 ¶ 26). Isom obtained the investigative file from Muncy and presented it to Dunaway, who then turned it over to the FBI. (Doc. Nos. 37 ¶ 39-41; 40 ¶ 27).
On May 5, 2020, Lynch placed an unsigned, two-sentence letter in Ford's file that alleged failure to follow the chain of command regarding an official matter. (Doc. No. 30-2 at 55). That same day, Lynch also prepared a memorandum to Page and Dobson recommending Ford's termination for “failure to follow the chain of command and insubordination.”[3] (Doc. Nos. 37 ¶ 70; 30-2 at 56). On May 7, Page met attorney Stephanie Johnson at the courthouse and told her: [4] (Doc. Nos. 37 ¶¶ 43-45; 40 ¶ 1; 36-4 at 4). On May 8, Page spoke to an FBI agent about Qualls's arrest and received an FBI subpoena concerning the incident. (Doc. Nos. 37 ¶ 42; 40 ¶ 29). That same day, Page signed the memorandum terminating Ford. (Doc. No. 37 ¶ 74). Ford was formally terminated after Dobson co-signed the memorandum. (Id.) On July 10, WCSD's Public Information Officer responded to a query about the Qualls investigation and Ford's termination by stating in part: (Doc. No. 40 ¶ 59).
Ford first asserts that he was retaliated against for exercising his free speech rights in violation of the First...
To continue reading
Request your trial